Syllabus of The Middle Eastern Culture Course

STUDENT WARNING: This course syllabus is from a previous semester archive and serves only as a preparatory
reference. Please use this syllabus as a reference only until the professor opens the classroom and you have access to the
updated course syllabus. Please do NOT purchase any books or start any work based on this syllabus; this syllabus may NOT
be the one that your individual instructor uses for a course that has not yet started. If you need to verify course textbooks,
please refer to the online course description through your student portal. This syllabus is proprietary material of APUS.
School of Security and Global Studies

IRLS662
Middle Eastern Culture
Credit Hours: 3
Length of Course: 8 Weeks
Prerequisite: POLS500
Table of Contents
Instructor Information Evaluation Procedures

Course Description Grading Scale
Course Scope Course Outline
Course Objectives Policies
Course Delivery Method Online Library and Turnitin
Course Resources Selected Bibliography
Instructor Information
Instructor Name: [insert name with credentials]

Biography: [insert link from APUS website]
Please contact me through the “messages” tab in the classroom while our class is in session.
After the course ends, please contact me through the university email system: [insert mycampus
address]
Table of Contents
Course Description (Catalog)
IRLS 662 Middle Eastern Culture (3 credit hours)

This course covers the geography, culture, society, economy, and religions of the major ethnic and
linguistic groups in the Middle East. The course will introduce students to important events and
developments, such as the changing concepts of politics in Islam; the evolving sociological bases of
states and societies in the Middle East; and the impact of Europe and the West on the Middle East, and
more recent events such as the Arab popular uprisings. Because no event or movement occurs without a
context, the course examines the cultural and social frameworks.
Table of Contents
Course Scope
As a research seminar, this course focuses on specialized area knowledge and sources in the field.
Students will conduct research in preparation for the Capstone project in the Graduate program and will
complete a research design statement, a literature review, a preliminary draft, and a final research
paper. The readings and research cover the analyses of major factors that shape the Middle Eastern
culture: religion, tribalism, the impact of Western powers, traditions, customs, mores, and traditional
norms. In this context, the course explores socio-cultural motives and values tightly intertwined to
create a unique social fabric prevailing in the region for centuries.
Table of Contents
Course Objectives
After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:
CO-1: Examine the value of culture and cultural identity for understanding Middle Eastern economies,
politics, and international relations.
CO-2: Identify and examine the different cultures and identities in the Middle East.
CO-2: Compare and contrast different culture groups in the Middle East.
CO-3: Explore and analyze the impact of history and nationalism on Middle Eastern cultural identities.
CO-4: Identify and analyze external influences on cultural identity in the Middle East, including
globalization and social media.
CO-5: Explore and analyze the religions of the Middle East and examine their impact on culture.
CO-6: Conduct a research project on a topic relevant to the course title and objectives.
Table of Contents
Course Delivery Method

This course, delivered via distance learning, will enable students to complete academic work in
a flexible manner, completely online. Course materials and access to an online learning
management system will be available to each student. Online assignments are due by Sunday at
11:55 pm ET and include all written assignments, examinations, and research papers submitted
for grading. Weekly Forum questions (accomplished in groups in a Forum) require an initial
response by Thursday at 11:55 pm ET, with all other required responses due by Sunday at 11:55
pm ET. The assigned faculty will support the students throughout this eight-week course.
Table of Contents
Course Resources
Required Course Textbooks
The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical

Stewart,
and Cultural Perspectives- E-book available in Routledge, 2009 9780415772426
Dona J.
the APUS Online Library
This book is available electronically in the online library via the classroom.
Required Readings
Other readings are available electronically within the classroom.
Additional Resources and Web Sites
Videos and web sites are available within the classroom and through the university electronic
library.
Table of Contents
Evaluation Procedures
The course grade is based on the following assessments:
Discussion Forums – 30 percent
Discussion questions will be provided and posts should reflect an assimilation of the readings and
respond to the assigned topic(s). Students are required to provide a substantive initial post by Thursday
at 11:55 pm ET and respond to two or more classmates by Sunday 11:55 pm ET. Forum posts are graded
on timeliness, relevance, knowledge of the weekly readings, and the quality of original ideas.
Research Question, Purpose Statement, and Citation Format Exercise – 20 percent
The components of this assignment include a research question and a purpose and design statement. It
must contain at least 8 sources, at least 6 of which must be peer-reviewed. The specific research
question should relate to a topic covered in the course. Length: 8 pp.
Literature Review—20 percent
This document contains an annotated summary of the major sources that will be used in the research
paper, all of which must be peer-reviewed articles or scholarly texts. Students will identify the source,
offer a short synopsis of its main argument, and offer a statement of relevance to the research project.
Length: 8 pp.
Final Paper—30 percent
This is the final paper assignment of the course. It must contain citations in formal style as well as a
bibliography. Length: 15 pp.
ASSIGNMENT Percentage
Research Design Assignment 20 percent

Literature Review Assignment 20 percent
Forum Discussions 30 percent
Research Paper 30 percent
TOTAL 100 percent

Table of Contents
8 – Week Course Outline
Please see the Student Handbook to reference the University’s grading scale.
Table of Contents
Week Topic Course Objectives Readings Assignments

and Learning
Outcomes
1 Cultural CO-1: Explore and Stewart (2013) Week One Forum
Geographies analyze the value Chapters 1 and 2
in the Middle of culture and Discussion Forum 1:
East cultural identity Heiss (2006) Culture Introductions
for understanding and US Relations with
Middle Eastern the Middle East Discussion Forum 2:
economies, Cultural Geographies
politics, and Held and Cummings in the ME
international (2010) The Peoples
relations and Cultures of the Due Thursday
Middle East 11:55pm; Responses
LO-1: Examine the due Sunday 11:55pm
cultural landscape (all times EDT)
of the Middle East
Lesson Notes
Weekly Readings
2 States, CO-2: Compare Stewart (2013) Week Two Forum

Nationalisms, and contrast Chapters 3 and 7
and Minorities different culture Discussion Forum:
groups in the Excerpts from Assessing nations
Middle East Shatzmiller (2005) and minorities
Nationalism and
CO-3: Explore and Minority Identities in Research Forum:
analyze the the Islamic Societies What’s your topic?
impact of history
and nationalism Supplemental: Due Thursday
on Middle Eastern 11:55pm; Responses
cultural identities Baehr (2009) Tribes due Sunday 11:55pm
and Terror in the
LO-1: Examine the Middle East: A Lesson Notes
role of states in Conversation with
the Middle East Philip Carl Salzman Weekly Readings
LO-2: Analyze the Bates (2001) Local

interactions of Organization of Power
nations and
minorities Lewis (2003) Iraqi
Assyrians
LO-3: Identify and
explore a topic for Kumaraswamy (2003)
research Problems of Studying
Minorities in the
Middle East
3 Orientalism CO-4: Identify and Lockman (2004) Said’s Week Three Forum:
and its analyze external Orientalism: a Book
Respondents influences on and its Aftermath Discussion Forum:
cultural identity in What is Orientalism
the Middle East, Salzman (2007) Arab
including Culture and Post- Due Thursday
globalization and Colonial Theory 11:55pm; Responses
social media due Sunday 11:55pm
LO -1: Understand Assignment

and analyze the
concept of Assignment 1:
orientalism and its Research Design
critiques
Due Sunday 11:55pm
LO-2: Design a
research method
for the final paper
Lesson Notes
Weekly Readings
4 Local Spheres: CO-2: Identify and Abdel-Latif (2008) In Week Four Forum
Family, examine the the Shadow of the
Gender, different cultures Brothers: The Women Discussion Forum:
Community and identities in of the Muslim Family, gender,
the Middle East Brotherhood community
CO-2: Compare Abu-Lughod (2002) Do Research Forum:

and contrast Muslim Women Really Engaging your
different culture Need Saving? sources
groups in the
Middle East Crocco et al. (2009) At Due Thursday
the Crossroads of the 11:55pm; Responses
LO-1: Explore and World: Women of the due Sunday 11:55pm.
analyze family and Middle East
community Lesson Notes
structures in the Singerman (2006)
Middle East Restoring the Family Weekly Readings
to Civil Society
LO-2: Analyze
changes in gender
dynamics in the
Middle East
LO-3: Critique and

analyze a research
source
5 Tradition CO-4: Identify and Stewart (2013) Week Five Forum:
versus analyze external Chapter 5-6
Modernity? influences on Discussion Forum:
cultural identity in Little (2008) American Are tradition and
the Middle East, Orientalism modernity opposing
including forces?
globalization and
social media Assignment
LO-1: Explore and Assignment 2:

analyze the Literature Review
concepts of
modernity and Due Sunday 11:55pm

tradition
Lesson Notes
LO-2: Construct a
review of Weekly Readings
literature on a
research topic
6 Tweeting the CO-4: Identify and Stewart (2013) Week Six Forum:
Revolution: analyze external Chapter 11
influences on Discussion Forum:
Culture and cultural identity in Khondker (2011) The Media and
the Media in the Middle East, Role of Media in the technology
the Middle including Arab Spring
East globalization and Research Forum:
social media York (2011) Free Gaps in your
Speech in the Age of research review
LO-1: Explore and Twitter
analyze the role of Due Thursday
globalization in Recommended: Allen 11:55pm; Responses
the Middle East (2011) Connected in due Sunday 11:55pm
Cairo
LO-2: Examine Lesson Notes
popular
movements in the Weekly Readings
Middle East and
analyze the role of
media
LO-3: Identify and

discuss gaps in the
literature on a
research topic
7 Islam, CO-5: Explore and Stewart (2013) Week Seven Forum:

Christianity, analyze the Chapter 8 and 12
and Judaism religions of the Discussion Forum:
in Middle Middle East and Deeb (2006) The Religion and culture
Eastern examine their Visibility of Religion in
Cultures impact on culture Daily Life (excerpt Research Forum:
from An Enchanted Portion of Paper
LO-1: Explore and Modern)
analyze the Due Thursday
relationship Bates and Rassam 11:55pm; responses

between religions (2001) Islam as due Sunday 11:55pm
and culture in the Identity, Islam as
Middle East Culture Due Sunday 11:55pm
LO-2: Analyze the Armstrong (1998) The Lesson Notes

impact of Islamist Holiness of Jerusalem
movements in the Weekly Readings
Middle East
LO-3: Construct a
research essay
and discuss
analysis
8 Case Studies CO-4: Identify and Stewart (2013) Week Eight Forum
in analyze external Chapter 9
Development, influences on Discussion Forum:
Globalization, cultural identity in Alsayyad (2008) From Case study and
and Middle the Middle East, Modernism to lessons learned
Eastern including Globalization
Cultures globalization and Research Forum:
social media David (2007) Sand, Precis of final paper
Rear, and Money in
CO-6: Conduct a Dubai Due Thursday
research project 11:55pm; Responses
on a topic due Sunday 11:55pm
relevant to the
course title and Assignment
objectives.
Assignment 4:
LO-1: Explore and Research paper due.
analyze the
impact of Due: Sunday
globalization and 11:55pm
development on
cultures of the
Middle East.
LO-2: Complete a
research paper
Table of Contents
Policies
Please see the Student Handbook to reference all University policies. Quick links to frequently
asked question about policies are listed below.
Drop/Withdrawal Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Extension Process and Policy
Disability Accommodations
Citation and Reference Style

Attention Please: Students will follow the Turabian/Chicago Style as the sole citation and
reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework to the University.
See http://www.apus.edu/Online-Library/tutorials/chicago.htm.
Late Assignments
Students are expected to submit classroom assignments by the posted due date and to
complete the course according to the published class schedule. As adults, students, and
working professionals, I understand you must manage competing demands on your time.
Should you need additional time to complete an assignment, please contact me before the due
date so we can discuss the situation and determine an acceptable resolution. Routine
submission of late assignments is unacceptable and may result in points deducted from your
final course grade.
Netiquette
Online universities promote the advancement of knowledge through positive and constructive
debate – both inside and outside the classroom. Forums on the Internet, however, can
occasionally degenerate into needless insults and “flaming.” Such activity and the loss of good
manners are not acceptable in a university setting – basic academic rules of good behavior and
proper “Netiquette” must persist. Remember that you are in a place for the rewards and
excitement of learning which does not include descent to personal attacks or student attempts
to stifle the Forum of others.
• Technology Limitations: While you should feel free to explore the full-range of creative
composition in your formal papers, keep e-mail layouts simple. The Sakai classroom may
not fully support MIME or HTML encoded messages, which means that bold face, italics,
underlining, and a variety of color-coding or other visual effects will not translate in your
e-mail messages.
• Humor Note: Despite the best of intentions, jokes and especially satire can easily get lost
or taken seriously. If you feel the need for humor, you may wish to add “emoticons” to
help alert your readers: ;-), : ), 
Table of Contents
Online Library
The Online Library is available to enrolled students and faculty from inside the electronic
campus. This is your starting point for access to online books, subscription periodicals, and Web
resources that are designed to support your classes and generally not available through search
engines on the open Web. In addition, the Online Library provides access to special learning
resources, which the University has contracted to assist with your studies. Questions can be
directed to librarian@apus.edu.
• Charles Town Library and Inter Library Loan: The University maintains a special library
with a limited number of supporting volumes, collection of our professors’ publication,
and services to search and borrow research books and articles from other libraries.
• Electronic Books: You can use the online library to uncover and download over 50,000
titles, which have been scanned and made available in electronic format.
• Electronic Journals: The University provides access to over 12,000 journals, which are
available in electronic form and only through limited subscription services.
Request a Library Guide for your course (http://apus.libguides.com/index.php)

The AMU/APU Library Guides provide access to collections of trusted sites on the Open
Web and licensed resources on the Deep Web. The following are specially tailored for
academic research at APUS:
• Program Portals contain topical and methodological resources to help launch

general research in the degree program. To locate, search by department name, or
navigate by school.
• Course Lib-Guides narrow the focus to relevant resources for the corresponding
course. To locate, search by class code (e.g., SOCI111), or class name.
If a guide you need is not available yet, please email the APUS Library: librarian@apus.edu.
Table of Contents
Turnitin.com
Faculty may require assignments be submitted to Turnitin.com. Turnitin.com will analyze a

paper and report instances of potential plagiarism for the student to edit before submitting it
for a grade. In some cases professors may require students to use Turnitin.com. Typically the
course professor will establish a Turnitin.com access code for his/her classes. If the code has
not been established, those who wish to use Turnitin.com may ask their professor to establish
the code. Please see the Turnitin instructions in the Week One Forum for more details.
Selected Bibliography
Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1986. Veiled sentiments: Honor and poetry in a Bedouin society. University
of California Press.
Agaoglu, Adalet. 1997. Curfew: A novel, trans. John Goulden. University of Texas Press.
Ahmed, Akbar, S. 2003. Islam under siege: Living dangerously in a post-honor world. Polity
Press.
Arberry, A. J. 1969. The Koran interpreted. Macmillan.
Armstrong, K. 2002. Islam: A short history. Random House, Inc.
Ayubi, Nazih.1991. Political Islam. Routledge.
Azari, Farah (ed.). 1983. Women of Iran: The conflict with fundamentalist Islam. Ithaca Press.
Bates Daniel G. and Amal Rassam. 2000. Peoples and cultures of the Middle East, 2nd Edition.
Prentice Hall.
Bogle, Emory C. 1998. Islam: Origin and belief. University of Texas Press.
Brenneman, Robert L. 2007. As strong as mountains: A Kurdish cultural journey. Waveland

Press.
Bushnaq, Inea (ed.). 1986. Arab folktales. Pantheon Books.
Caton, Steven C. 1990. Peaks of Yemen I Summon: Poetry as cultural practice in a north Yemen
tribe. University of California Press.
Chatty, Dawn. 1996. Mobile pastoralists: Development planning and social change in Oman.
Columbia University Press.
Cleveland, William L. and Martin Bunton. 2008. A history of the modern Middle East, 4th
Edition. Westview Press.
Cole, Donald and Soraya Altorki. 1998. Bedouin, settlers, and holiday-makers: Egypt’s changing
northwest coast. American University in Cairo Press.
Dahl, Robert A. 1991. Modern political analysis, 5th Edition. Prentice Hall.
Deeb, Lara. 2006. An enchanted modern: Gender and public piety in Shi’i Lebanon. Princeton
Studies in Muslim Politics. Princeton University Press
Denny, Frederick M. 1996. An introduction to Islam, 2nd Edition. Macmillan.
Eickelman, Dale, F., and James Piscatori. 1996. Muslim politics. Princeton University Press.
Esposito, John L. 1998. Islam: The straight path. Oxford University Press.
Fuller, Graham E. 2003. The future of political Islam. Palgrave MacMillan.
Gerges, Fawaz A. 1999. America and political Islam: Clash of Cultures or Clash of Interests?
Cambridge University Press.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1989. The structural transformation of the public sphere: An inquiry into a
category of bourgeois society, trans. T. Burger. MIT Press.
Heggy, Tarek. 2003. Culture, civilization, and humanity. Frank Cass.
Held, David. 2006. Models of democracy, 3rd Edition. Stanford University Press.
Held, Colbert C. 1989. Middle East patterns: Places, peoples, and politics. Westview Press.
Hourani, Albert. 1991. A history of the Arab peoples. The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press.
Hubbard, Mark. 1999. Warriors of the Prophet: The struggle for Islam. Westview Press.
Jabbur, Jibrail S. 1996. The bedouins and the desert. Aspects of nomadic life in the Arab
east. Trans. Lawrence I. Conrad. State University of New York Press.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2003. Terror in the mind of God: The rise of religious violence.
University of California Press.
Keane, John. 1996. Reflections on violence. Verso.
Khalidi, Rashid. 1997. Palestinian identity: The construction of modern national

consciousness. Columbia University Press.
Kinross, Lord. 1977. The Ottoman centuries: The rise and fall of the Turkish empire.
Morrow Quill.
Lawrence, Bruce B. 1998. Shattering the myth: Islam beyond violence. Princeton
University Press.
Lewis, Bernard. 2002. What went wrong? Western impact and Middle Eastern response.
Oxford University Press.
Lewis, Bernard. 1993. Islam and the West. Oxford University Press.
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1960. Political man: The social bases of politics. Doubleday.
Little, Douglas. 2008. American orientalism: the United States and the Middle East since
1945, Third Edition. University of North Carolina Press
Lockman, Zachary. 2004. Contending visions of the Middle East: the history and politics
of Orientalism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Lunde, Paul. 2002. Islam: faith, culture, history. DK Publishing.
Macmillan. 2004. Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim world, Macmillan Reference.
Mango, Andrew. 2004. The Turks today. Overlook.
Mansfield, Peter. 2004. A history of the Middle East. Penguin Books.

Mayer, Ann Elizabeth. 1999. Islam and human rights: Tradition and politics, 3rd Edition.
Westview Press.
Mills, Margaret. 1991. Rhetorics and politics in traditional Afghan storytelling.

University of Pennsylvania Press.
Milton-Edwards, Beverly. 2006. Contemporary politics in the Middle East. Blackwell

Publishers.
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. 1993. Marriage on trial: A study of Islamic family law: Iran and Morocco
compared. St. Martin’s Press.
Parekh, Bhikhu. 2000. Rethinking multiculturalism: Cultural diversity and political theory.
Harvard University Press.
Peterson, Mark Allen. 2011. Connected in Cairo: Growing up cosmopolitan in the modern
Middle East. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Rahman, Fazlur. 1979. Islam, 2nd Edition. University of Chicago Press.
Ramadan, Tariq. 2004. Western Muslims and the future of Islam. Oxford University Press.
Randal, Jonathan. 2004. Osama: The making of a terrorist. Knopf.
Roskin, Michael G. and James J Coyle. 2007. Politics of the Middle East: Cultures and conflicts,
2nd Edition. Prentice Hall.
Roy, Olivier. 1994. The failure of political Islam. Harvard University Press.
Said, Edward. 1979. Orientalism: Western conceptions of the Orient. Vintage Press.
Sayeed, Khalid Bin. 2005. Western dominance and political Islam. State University of
New York.
Shatzmiller, Maya. 2005. Nationalism and minority identities in Islamic societies. McGill
Queens University Press.
Schwartz, S. 2003. The two faces of Islam: Saudi fundamentalism and its role in
terrorism. New York: Anchor Books. Random House,
Stewart, Dona J. 2009. The Middle East today: Political, geographical, and cultural
perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Tapper, Richard. 1997. Frontier nomads of Iran: A political and social history of the
Shasevan. Cambridge University Press.
Tibi, Bassam. 1998. The challenge of fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New
World disorder. University of California Press.
Varzi, Roxanne. 2006. Warring souls: Youth, media, and martyrdom in post-Revolution Iran.
Duke University Press.
Zuhur, Sherifa, (ed.). 1999. Images of enchantment: Visual and performing arts of the
Middle East. Columbia University Press.
Table of Contents

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STUDENT WARNING: This course syllabus is from a previous semester archive and serves only as a preparatory

School of Security and Global Studies

Instructor Information Evaluation Procedures

Instructor Name: [insert name with credentials]

Course Description (Catalog)

IRLS 662 Middle Eastern Culture (3 credit hours)

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

Course Delivery Method

Required Course Textbooks

The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical

Other readings are available electronically within the classroom.

Additional Resources and Web Sites

The course grade is based on the following assessments:

Discussion Forums – 30 percent

Research Question, Purpose Statement, and Citation Format Exercise – 20 percent

Literature Review—20 percent

Final Paper—30 percent

Research Design Assignment 20 percent

TOTAL 100 percent

8 – Week Course Outline

Week Topic Course Objectives Readings Assignments

2 States, CO-2: Compare Stewart (2013) Week Two Forum

LO-2: Analyze the Bates (2001) Local

LO -1: Understand Assignment

CO-2: Compare Abu-Lughod (2002) Do Research Forum:

LO-3: Critique and

LO-1: Explore and Assignment 2:

modernity and Due Sunday 11:55pm

LO-3: Identify and

7 Islam, CO-5: Explore and Stewart (2013) Week Seven Forum:

relationship Bates and Rassam 11:55pm; responses

LO-2: Analyze the Armstrong (1998) The Lesson Notes

Citation and Reference Style

Request a Library Guide for your course (http://apus.libguides.com/index.php)

• Program Portals contain topical and methodological resources to help launch

Faculty may require assignments be submitted to Turnitin.com. Turnitin.com will analyze a

Arberry, A. J. 1969. The Koran interpreted. Macmillan.

Armstrong, K. 2002. Islam: A short history. Random House, Inc.

Ayubi, Nazih.1991. Political Islam. Routledge.

Brenneman, Robert L. 2007. As strong as mountains: A Kurdish cultural journey. Waveland

Bushnaq, Inea (ed.). 1986. Arab folktales. Pantheon Books.

Denny, Frederick M. 1996. An introduction to Islam, 2nd Edition. Macmillan.

Fuller, Graham E. 2003. The future of political Islam. Palgrave MacMillan.

Heggy, Tarek. 2003. Culture, civilization, and humanity. Frank Cass.

Keane, John. 1996. Reflections on violence. Verso.

Khalidi, Rashid. 1997. Palestinian identity: The construction of modern national

Lunde, Paul. 2002. Islam: faith, culture, history. DK Publishing.

Mango, Andrew. 2004. The Turks today. Overlook.

Mansfield, Peter. 2004. A history of the Middle East. Penguin Books.

Mills, Margaret. 1991. Rhetorics and politics in traditional Afghan storytelling.

Milton-Edwards, Beverly. 2006. Contemporary politics in the Middle East. Blackwell

Rahman, Fazlur. 1979. Islam, 2nd Edition. University of Chicago Press.

Randal, Jonathan. 2004. Osama: The making of a terrorist. Knopf.

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